I'm A Pirate, You're A Princess
by moonshroom420
Summary: Maximum Martinez is a noblewoman and she hates it. Betrothed to the person she loathes most, Dylan Gunther-Hagen, the day of her wedding proves dismal. Until the notorious pirate Fang Ride destroys the ceremony and snatches her away. With her wanna-be husband in pursuit, Max readily joins life aboard the Black Feather Flight, with her thoughts on a certain dark-eyed captain. FAX.
1. Chapter 1

**Chapter 1: MAX**

There was a knock at the door. I put down the brush I was supposed to be using to do my hair – it seemed to just make it worse – and called, "Come in."

The knob turned and my handmaiden came in holding a corset. I backed into my dressing table.

"Nuh uh," I said sternly. "No way."

She sighed like a long-suffering parent. I seem to have that effect on people.

"Lady Maximum, I'm afraid I must insist," she told me. "Your parents ordered you to wed today, did you forget?"

I sighed and scrubbed my face. My mother, Lady Martinez, and father, Lord Batchelder, were the highest up in society. They ordered me to marry, and if I didn't chose they'd pick a suitable courter for me. I didn't chose. They made arrangements.

I was to wed Sir Dylan Gunther-Hagen, the Golden Boy of the village. He lived in a castle, for the gods sake! He was basically a prince. But I didn't like him. In fact, I detested him.

"Come on, my lady," the maid insisted, holding out the corset. I jumped away.

Not half an hour later, I was in the most decorative dress in the history of fashion, and I could barely breathe. It was pure white, like dove-down, with a high back and a long train and veil. My wedding dress. I heaved for air as I got into the carriage. My back prickled as the family's darkest kept secret brushed its feathers against my skin.

Yes I did say feathers.

My parents believe I was cursed by the gods, but I thought it was the kindest blessing anyone had given me. I was born with wings – like an angel. I used to dream as a little girl that I was destined to meet a winged boy and fall in love with him. I laughed at this now. My parents were cruel when it came to my wings: no one could know, no one could see, no one could feel. I was doomed to wear tight and painful dresses for the rest of my life and never showing my true self to anyone.

All in all, it sucked major butt.

My mother glared at me as I pressed my hand to my chest, trying to get my breath back.

"Maximum," she scolded, "don't be foolish. It's not that bad."

I wheezed and glowered back at her.

"It is," I growled, "for woman with something to _put _in the corset!"

Her cheeks flushed red and my father gave me a disgusted look.

"Hold your tongue, Maximum," he ordered. I crossed my arms and leant back, glaring. I hated my parents. I always have and I'm sure I always will. They were the worst in the world. In all my seventeen years the only person I've detested more than them was the Gunter-Hagen's.

The carriage started moving and I stayed as far away from them as I could, thinking the first option that came up I'd take it and run.

I looked out the window as we moved into the forest, watching the trees slide by. This was almost like Death Way, or the march to the Gallows for my own personal hanging. I'd rather that than marry Dylan.

Not an hour later, I was standing behind the closed doors of the main church room where hundreds of people were waiting for me to enter. I felt sick. Not nervous or anything, just plain disgusted and up-chuck-all-over. I was marrying Dylan. Dylan Gunther-Hagen. Not many knew – because he actually got rid of the people who did – but he was an evil man. Anyone who defied him was smuggled away during the night and never seen again. He convicted people suspected at pirates when there was no evidence. He hated pirates. I never knew why, but I did know he had a mortal enemy who was a Captain of a ship at sea. There isn't a word for how much they loathed each other. His name was all over the place on Wanted posters – Fang Ride, Captain of the _Black Feather Flight. _The bounty on his head was more than my family even had, and we were one of the richest in the district.

The organ started playing and the doors in front of me opened slowly. I saw the crowds of people craning their necks to see me, and I ignored them and moodily stalked down the aisle. My father was supposed to escort me, but instead it was Dylan's, Lord Gunther-Hagen. I recoiled at his very presence, and when he had to hold my arm I nearly threw up. By the time we reached the alter, I was considering faking my own death.

Dylan gave me a charming smile. I returned it with a snarl.

The preacher started preaching – and there is a whole career in a nutshell. I wanted him to go preach to someone who cared. Like, you know, not me.

"Do you, Maximum Martinez, take Dylan Gunther-Hagen, to be your wedded and trusted husband, till death do you part?"

We would be parting sooner than expected then. I wouldn't spend a single night with the guy.

"Might I answer that for her, Bishop?" A voice high above me suddenly called. "Because then the answer would be no, no she will not take Mr High-and-Mighty as her husband."

Everyone's heads swivelled upwards to the rafters of the church, and out of the corner of my eye I saw the ugliest scowl on Dylan's face. His lips were pulled back in a seriously postal snarl and his eyes were narrowed to the point he was squinting.

At that moment something dropped down from the ceiling. I stared at them as they straightened up, a small and wicked grin on their lips. I realised it was a boy.

His hair was black as midnight, slightly overlong, tied back in a pony-tail that most guys wouldn't be able to pull off, but he did. He had a black bandana over the lower half of his face, and his eyes were so dark it was like I was staring into a black hole. His black tunic was mostly undone, and his dark leggings and boots were the same shade. His belt was grey. It held an empty dagger scabbard. The weapon was in his hands. He looked no older than seventeen.

"Ride!" Dylan growled, and the boy looked at him. His eyes danced a little as he looked at the man seething beside me. I stepped away from Dylan. His hand shot out and grabbed my arm, pulling me back. Dylan pointed to the guards on either side of the doorway.

"Arrest him!" he cried. "That's Fang Ride, you fools. Arrest him!"

They jumped to attention at ran at Fang. The pirate Captain simply raised his hands and two more figures fell from the roofing.

A duo of boys straightened up, and something creamy flashed in my vision before it disappeared and they looked around, armed to the teeth with swords and … bombs! I doubled back in amazement. Fang's eyes snapped to me and a small, honest smile played on his mouth for a moment before it disappeared. He flipped his dagger around and started walking towards Dylan and I. Dylan went for his waist, where a long sword was sheathed, and he pulled it out, consequently letting go of me.

"Surrender, Ride," he hissed as Fang silently strolled up the steps. Fang gripped his dagger and rolled his eyes, yanking the bandana away from his face and letting it rest around his neck.

"What would you do if I finally said, 'Of course I'll surrender, Dylan.'?" Fang quipped. "I can't imagine your life would be much fun without me."

Dylan shot forward at Fang and tried to stab him point-blank. In a flash of shadow, Fang skipped to the side, and suddenly it was him who was beside me at the alter. I stared at him blankly, and he looked at me.

"Excuse me, Lady Maximum," he breathed, "for future discomfort."

Another shadow suddenly dropped down behind me and I kicked them right in the stomach without looking around. They fell over, groaning. Fang's eyes widened minutely before he called to the other boys, his eyes not leaving me.

"Iggy, Gaz! Come over here, you're needed."

The two looked over and ran, right as Dylan swung at Fang again. The pirate ducked down and rolled between his legs. Something huge and black flicked out of his back and sent Dylan flying into the stain-glass windows. As soon as it appeared it was gone though. I didn't see any more because of the two pirates in front of me.

"Ig, your call," said the smaller one, a little blond boy with large blue eyes and spikey hair. He only looked around twelve. The other nodded. This one was tall with strawberry blond hair and glassy ice-blue eyes. I realised, with a shock, he was blind. He looked seventeen as well.

Iggy held out his hand to Gaz. The kid nodded. They both faced me again.

"Sorry, miss," they said in unison, before Gaz flipped his hands in the air and Iggy whacked me on the head. My vision went completely space-o, and all I saw before I passed out was Fang walking towards me and heaving me into his arms. Then, instead of the black of his shirt, I saw the black of my eyelids, and fell into unconsciousness.

_**~ "I don't Damsel well. Distress I can do. Damseling, not so much." ~ **_

What I woke up to was honest to gods the most shock-inducing scene ever.

I blinked, sunlight burning my eyes, my head throbbing in pain. I closed my eyes and ran over what could have made me feel like someone had just used my skull as a drum. Marrying Dylan… he wouldn't have beat me, would he? No, there was something else…

"Fang, she's awake."

I snapped my eyes open, ignoring the sun. The pirate attack! They knocked me out. Picked me up. Took me somewhere. I stared around.

There was a crew of four sitting in front of me, looking up at me with wide eyes. I blinked again.

One of them was a little kid, around eleven, with bouncy blond curls and big adorable eyes and a bright smile. Next to her was a dark-skinned girl with black hair and beautiful iris's, smiling like I was a close friend. Next to them were the two boys, Iggy and Gaz, looking at me like I was the best thing in the world. It took me a second to realise it was Iggy who'd spoken.

Footsteps sounded from behind me and I strained to look. Only then did I realise there was a huge pole at my back, it was freakin' uncomfortable, and my hands were tied behind me with more rope around my waist. The mast. Perfect. Just what every distressed damsel wants. Problem was though, I was no damsel, I wasn't distressed, and the guy that just came into my view was the pirate Fang Ride. I was in so much trouble.

"Welcome to the _Black Feather Flight, _Miss Martinez."

Though trouble was looking like a lot of fun right about now.

**Well, um, oops? This was not supposed to happen I have too many stories as is but I couldn't help it!**

**So, how is it? And yes, Fang will indeed be a cocky ass throughout, kind of OOC, but such is life. I'll be having Maximum Ride quotes as the line breaks. Hope you enjoy!**

**Jasmine Out!**


	2. Chapter 2

**Chapter 2: FANG**

I studied her a while, taking in her broad shoulders and wild-running blond hair. Her lip was bleeding. Her dress was slightly torn.

"This is the crew," I said, gesturing to the four sitting on the deck. I then leaned against the mast a little way away from her and crossed my arms.

"Iggy." Iggy waved. "Gasman." Gazzy farted. "That's Nudge." The dark-skinned girl gave a light laugh. "And Angel." Angel shrugged her shoulders in a smile. Then she looked at me.

"Fang, you forgot Total."

Maximum raised her eyebrows.

"Ah, yes, sorry, Angel."

A little mop of black fur streaked across the wooden floor and jumped up on Maximum's skirt, barking.

"That's Total," I said wearily, before waving to Angel to get her dog. She stood up and carefully picked the animal off the white folds of the girl's wedding dress.

Just seeing it made me sick; I hated that dress on her, because it was a symbol on how close she was to being Dylan's.

"That's great and all," she suddenly said. "But I want to know why I'm here."

I put my hands on my hips and my back tingled as her gaze levelled with mine. I had a secret – no, my whole crew had a secret – that we guarded with our lives. The stare Maximum was giving me made that secret brush its soft fluffiness against my skin.

"You're here because we kidnapped you," Iggy replied glibly. Maximum rolled her eyes at him.

"You must be the brains of the operation then," she said sarcastically, and Nudge snorted at the face Iggy pulled. I chuckled quietly as well.

"Well, Lady Maximum-"

"It's just Max," she interrupted. I shrugged.

"Okay, Max." The name left a tingling taste on my tongue. I kind of liked it.

"You're really only here because of my standing rivalry with your sweetheart." _And there's something about you that makes my legs forget to work. _

"That _cretin _it's my sweet-anything!" she growled, glaring at me. My lips quirked in a smile.

"Then we're on the same page," I replied, playing with the hilt of my dagger. "You hate him, I hate him, he hates me, and he's only marrying you for money so he can raise the bounty on my head and for a trophy he can show off at parties." _And to get under my skin. _

I pulled out the weapon and twirled it in a circle motion.

"It's a cycle. He needs you for the cash and the looks, I took you so he didn't get either. It's not much more complicated than that."

_Not to mention you're sweet on her, _a voice said in my mind. I glared at the angelic little blond girl playing with her dog on the deck.

_Angel, keep your thoughts to yourself, _I told her, and she looked up from Total to give me an innocent smile.

That's one of our secrets: Angel can read minds. My entire crew is like this – each with a little arsenal of powers that has stopped us being caught by Dylan's pathetic anti-pirate force.

We also each have a pair of wings. And looking at Max made mine quiver slightly.

"Besides," I said, choosing to ignore Angel, "pretty thing like you shouldn't be tied down with a villain like Gunther-Hagen."

"Pretty thing like me shouldn't be tied down on a pirate ship either," she shot back, and I really wanted to smack myself for my completely ridiculous choice of words. Instead I waved my hand, smiling a little.

"Touché, Max," I said. "But it's necessary."

"Necessary? You're joking."

I shook my head. "No, sorry, milady. You're aboard a pirate ship and as a hostage, I'm afraid your role is rather limited." I touched the side of her face, intrigued by its softness. "Really you just get to stand there and make my ship look more gorgeous than it is."

_Iggy says you're a horrible flirt, _Angel mind-spoke to me again, and I glared at Iggy before replying.

_Whack him for me, won't you, sweetie?_

Angel leaned over and slapped the back of Iggy's head. He yelped and covered it, ducking forward. Max looked annoyed.

"Excuse you, sexist piglet," she snapped, glowering at me. "Give me a chance and I'll kick your butt into next week. Besides," she glanced over the others, "shouldn't I get to choose whether I'm a hostage or not?"

Angel cocked her head.

"Yeah, she should," she muttered. Then she looked at me.

"Ask her what she wants to do, Fang," she said. I was still reeling from the 'sexist piglet' comment, and inadvertently stared over at Max.

"I'd rather join your crew, since you didn't ask."

_**~ "None of us is ever going to live in a cage again, not while I'm alive." ~**_

I stood outside the closed door to the spare cabin, staring at the floor. More accurately, what was lying on the floor.

Max's once-beautiful wedding dress with its weensy corset and long train was sprawled there in tatters. After Iggy had cut her loose from the mast, she'd looked at me, giving me a once-over that felt like it was burning my skin. But I stared impassively back, waiting for her assessment. For some reason, I really wanted to pass.

"Provided there's no catches like having to call you 'Captain Ride' or whatever, I'd like to become a member of the _Black Feather Flight," _she'd said, her voice a little quiet.

I'd reached over and touched her arm.

_She's definitely more than just a pretty face, _I'd though. _Far more than Dylan would've been able to handle in a million years. _

"It's just Fang to you, Miss Martinez," I'd replied coolly. "After all, that's what my crew call me."

Then there was squealing – Nudge – and cute little-girl cuddles – Angel – and Total jumping up and down, freaking the hell out of Max when he started talking. Gasman had showed her all the bombs he and Iggy had made. I'd stood to the side and watched.

When they'd exhausted themselves, I walked over and put a hand on her shoulder.

"Want out of that dress, Max?"

She'd replied with, "Definitely."

So that's where we were now, me waiting for her to change and staring at the remains of the symbol that had marked her as Dylan's. Max had found a small dagger in the room and asked if she could borrow it. Hesitantly I'd agreed, and almost immediately the sounds of shredding and ripping filtered out of the room. Then the dress was flung out and landed in the hallway.

As I waited, I noticed something in the folds of the ruined fabric. It gave me sick pleasure to see Dylan so violently dumped, and the dress was like a promise she'd hate him for eternity. But what I suddenly saw made that seem insignificant.

A single long, tan and speckled feather was snagged between the netted backs of the dress. I picked it out delicately, examining it. My breathing stopped for a moment.

It was only a little bit bigger than the feathers that made up my wings. It was obviously a primary feather, from the length. What was it doing in Max's dress?

Then the door opened and Max stepped out. I quietly put the feather in my dagger sheath to hide it.

She was wearing a brown tunic with a white singlet underneath. Her leggings were brown too, and a black scarf was wrapped around her waist along with a belt. She wore boots too, and her hair was out of its complicated style.

All in all, she looked even better than before.

Suddenly she fisted her hands and stamped her foot, crouching in a position that looked like an attack to me. But she was laughing.

"YESSS!" she yelled. "Free! Hahah!"

Then she started dancing around like a mad person. I just watched, extremely amused, as she ran out the entrance to the cabins hallway and started skipping along the deck. I heard Angel laughing and Nudge talking and there was a small explosion that was no doubt Iggy or Gazzy.

"Look out, Gunther-Hagen," I murmured. "Hell hath no fury like a woman who hates your guts."

_**~ "I'm brilliant! I'm a genius! I could blow up the whole world!" ~**_

Dylan stood at his window, his hands linked behind him and a scowl on his face.

"Sir, the ships are ready," a servant announced, opening the door. Dylan nodded in reply.

"Thank you," he said. "And Ride?"

"Moving east, sir," the man answered. "He doesn't seem to be going fast. The fleet should catch up quickly."

"Good."

Dylan glared out at the waves bashing the sand. He spoke to the servant once more.

"I would like nothing more than to celebrate my eighteenth birthday with the death of Fang Ride," he said coldly. "Make sure he's brought back alive."

"Of course, sir."

The servant left. A small, brutal smile quirked Dylan's mouth.

"We'll capture Ride in a matter of days, weeks at most," he said to himself. "And my birthday isn't for months. The fun we will have."

He reached over to the desk and pulled one of the draws open. His fingers closed around a cold hilt and he withdrew a slim, silver dagger with spidery words engraved on the blade.

"Yep," he said, popping the 'p'. "Lots of fun."

He ran his fingers over the carving. _The Bane of Fang Ride. _

Dylan whistled under his breath, touching the blood-red ruby encrusted in the hilt.

"Of course you'll remember this dagger, Fang," he murmured. "And if it could reduce you to a cold mess of brokenness once…"

He stared out the window, grinning.

"I wonder what it could do a second time."

**So Dylan is WAAAY OOC but I don't even care. I seriously dislike the guy and if he's going to write himself as a sadist I'm not stopping it. It's T for a reason, folks. **

**And thanks for the response, people! Really, I didn't think it'd get that many follows and such. **

**Jasmine Out!**


	3. Chapter 3

**Chapter 3: MAX**

At first I was confused: how did a huge ship like the _Black Feather Fight _even move if there was only five members, including Fang?

Then I didn't wonder anymore when I saw how hard and methodically they all worked. They all were ridiculously strong – where did they hide the muscle? Angel was only nine and she was tying rigging all by herself.

I was up in the birds nest, keeping a watchful eye over things. I was actually a few months older than Fang, and after only a week I had rocketed up to the position of 'Leader if Fang isn't Around.' So I was up there, looking around the ocean and breathing the wonderfully _free _air in.

I was also appreciating the irony of the _birds nest _thing.

See, during my time with the flock, as they called themselves, we had really gotten close. Angel was like my baby, Nudge became the best sister I never had, the Gasman was the cutest little soldier on the ship and Iggy was great company after long days working.

And Fang was just… I didn't really know. There was this really weird feeling in my stomach every time I saw him and his eyes always sparkled at me like little stars in the blackest of nights. He was probably my closest confident on the _Black Feather Flight. _

But that didn't mean that my wings were their business.

I hadn't told them, and I kept the extra appendages hidden. But last night I went for the first fly I've had since I joined the pirates. During my I-will-destroy-the-wedding-dress episode, I'd ripped two slits in my new singlet top for my wings to fold out from, and took off my tunic to spread them out to their thirteen foot length. Last night was definitely the best night of my life: flying under an open sky and above a clear ocean with reflected stars in the water and strong coastal winds. I was in love with the life of a pirate.

Back to the birds nest.

"Yo, Max!" someone below yelled, and I looked down and mock-saluted to Fang as he shadowed his eyes and looked up at me. I resisted the urge to unfurl my wings and fly down, instead resorting to shimmying along the mast to land in front of him. I gave him a grin.

"Reporting for duty, sir," I snorted, giggling. He flashed me a real smile and waved a hand in a 'follow me' motion. I did so, poking my tongue out at Gazzy as we passed him.

Angel looked up from where she was sorting food as we wound through the corridors. She gave me a cute grin and I returned it. I loved that little kid. But sometimes it felt like she knew something I didn't know she knew. Or she wasn't supposed to know. Whatever it was though, I ignored it.

Fang walked ahead of me, and then stopped and opened a door. I realised with a start it was my door to the room I'd been sleeping in. He lead me in and I followed, slightly nervous.

"So," he started, facing me. "This week proved that you're by far one of the most capable on this ship."

I smiled against my will.

"And so this is your official room. You can do whatever you like with it, but as a member of this crew, there is one compulsory decoration."

He reached into his hip pocket pouch and pulled out a rolled scroll. He gently unfurled it and spread it against the furthest wall, tacking it to the wood. Then he left, giving my shoulder a little squeeze, which for Fang, meant he was hugging my guts out.

I walked over to see what he'd put up on the wall. My hands went to my mouth.

It was a poster. Like, an ink drawing. I beautiful ink drawing. Of us.

The backdrop was of the mast and the skies beyond, and we were all standing on the deck. Fang and I were in the back, arms around each other, and Iggy was making some kind of funny sign in the middle row. Angel, Nudge and Gazzy were in the front, Angel smiling sweetly, Nudge squealing and Gazzy holding a bomb. Total was sprawled in front of their laps. Everyone was smiling.

I touched the parchment and grinned, my heart swelling. My mother and father never got portraits done of us, and I would rather be caught dead than be painted in a picture with Dylan. My blood-ties were only that. This was my real family.

_**~ "Between the red blood and green paint, he looked kind of Christmassy." ~**_

The next day, I was sitting with Angel on the deck, trying to brush her hair and tie it into a braid. It wasn't working.

We'd finished our chores for that day, and after I'd said I fail at hair styling Angel had decided to sit me down and let me practice on her. It was getting nowhere.

The door to the inside of the ship suddenly opened and Iggy and Fang walked out with the Gasman. The little blond boy and the pyro were grinning like maniacs, and I instantly went on alert. Fang was wearing a half-smirk. Which spelled trouble with a capital T. They stopped in front of Angel and I.

"Do you have to do it right now?" Angel whined, and I looked at her in confusion. Fang nodded.

"Yes, sweetie," he replied. "Max needs to learn something."

I frowned.

"What do I need to learn?"

Fang held out his arm and I warily didn't take it, instead pushing myself to my feet. Gazzy giggled.

"And you thought you could trick her," he snorted, and Fang shoved him. Then he sighed.

"Fine. Maximum Martinez, come here and spar with me."

I stepped over Angel and stopped a few feet from him.

"You want to teach me how to fight," I deadpanned, and he nodded minutely. I rolled my eyes.

"Fine then. Hope you brought your stretcher, Captain." I got into a defensive position. Fang looked surprised for a moment before crouching down as well.

"Over confident, aren't we?" he asked. I nodded.

"Always."

Faster than humanly possible, Fang lunged at me. Again faster than humanly possible, I dodged. His palm was on its side, and that would have been a nasty blow if he'd hit me.

His momentum carried him forward a few steps and in that time I zipped around and shoved his side. Fang listed away unsteadily, and I heard Iggy mutter something about Fang being totally whipped.

The black-haired teen turned on me, a flicker of surprise on his face.

"How did you know how to fight?" he asked. I bit my lip.

"At first my… father, taught me," I managed. "Then he stopped and I just kept going myself."

Iggy was shaking his head.

"But you pushed Fang over," he said, like I'd just moved a mountain or something.

"Is that an implication, Griffiths?" I demanded. He held up his hands, smiling.

"Not at all, Madame Maximum. Not at all."

Fang was silent the whole time, until he faced me again.

"Right. Let's take this spar up a notch."

_**~ "I vill now destroy de Snickus bahrs!" ~**_

It ended in a semi-tie. I beat Fang, he beat me, I beat him, he beat me. In the end we were too tired to keep at it and conceded a draw. By then, Nudge had joined us, and was with Gazzy and Angel, slightly slack-jawed.

"What?" I asked, heading towards the mess hall; aka, dining room. Nudge whistled.

"Not one of us has ever beaten Fang before," she said in awe. I looked at her.

"Why are you so surprised I did? I am older than him."

Nudge looked about to say something, but Gazzy elbowed her and hissed under his breath. I frowned. They were keeping something from me, I knew it.

We had dinner – finally I found people who ate as much as I did! – and then went out onto the deck to just sit and talk and look at the night sky. We were after all, becoming professionals at breaking every stereotype against pirates.

I relished in the wind nipping my face and I longed to spread my wings and fly in it. The others were also restless, for some reason. Nudge even asked Iggy for a back-rub.

Fang was leaning against the mast, his eyes closed, but I knew he wasn't asleep. I scooted over to him and was about to say something when a gigantic creaking noise startled us all out of our stupors and had our muscles tensed to the point of breaking.

A ship was pulling up beside us. A big ship. It's railings were lined with four attractive men, all staring intently at us. My stomach dropped.

They didn't have a proper name, all I knew was that they were Dylan's henchmen, and people called them Erasers.

One of them, a big guy with a scar across his eye and a glint of evil in his smirk, stood in front of the pack. Fang seemed to turn to ice.

"Ride," the guy cooed. "You just keeping getting in my way, don't you?"

Fang clambered to his feet, sending us a signal with his fingers that were crossed behind his back. Wait.

"Ari," he said coldly. I've never heard him speak like that before. "I'd ask what you're doing, but I think I already know."

Ari laughed, his voice crackly and brittle.

"I could say the same, old pal," he sneered. He looked at me. "I mean, it's not everyone who kidnap's Maximum Martinez, as much as we all want to."

I snarled back at him. Creep.

"Dylan requests your presence at his birthday party," Ari went on conversationally. Fang scowled. I frowned.

"His birthday isn't for months."

Ari winked at me.

"Exactly."

I was going to be sick. Just when I thought I couldn't hate the guy more – ding! This shows up. Sadistic little creeper.

I flipped Ari the bird and shoved Fang back.

"Get off our ship!" Nudge yelled at them. Erasers began climbing down onto the railings of the _Black Feather Flight, _hopping onto the deck. Only three of them, including Ari, boarded. He cracked his huge knuckles. They started turning furry.

"Let's bring the Prince his birthday gift."

**With the main fights in this, I'll be basing them off real ones from the books. Like, next chapter you should be able to figure out this one. I even foreshadowed it with one of the line-break quotes :D **

**Thank you all so much for your reviews! Gods, I didn't think this'd get so much attention to fast. **

**Jasmine Out!**


	4. Chapter 4

**Chapter 4: FANG**

I motioned for my crew to prepare for a fight, then thought really hard to Angel, hoping she'd pick up on it.

_Go with Gazzy up the mast, _I projected to her. _Keep your wings in. Defend from up there. Stay safe. _

Angel sent me a look and replied in my head.

_You baby us way too much. _But she grabbed the Gasman and ran for the mast, skittering up it like squirrels. One of the Erasers lunged at them. The fight began.

Iggy swept in front of the freak heading for Angel and Gazzy and punched his face so hard I swore I could see stars spinning around it. The Eraser gave a drunken swing, but Iggy danced out of the way and upper-cut into the half-morphed man's ribs. I heard the snap of breaking bones from where I stood.

Nudge shrieked and threw herself at the second Eraser, kicking his shins. The guy grunted and started morphing, his model face elongating and getting whiskery, sprouting fur. He roared and lunged for Nudge, catching her hair and raking his claws across her face. She yelled in pain and he was about to punch her stomach until Max dived on his arm and snapped the radius bone clean in half. He wailed and started hitting her with his other hand, letting go of Nudge.

"I'll tell you a secret, Fang," Ari said, making me snap my head around to look at him as he walked up to me, his ugly self getting uglier as he morphed into Wolf-Man. He swished his claws through the air and I felt them lightly dragging across my cheek, leaving four lines of shallow, bleeding racing-stripes. I snarled at him and ducked, whipping my leg out so it sunk into his stomach and squished all the air out of his diaphragm. At least it would have, it he hadn't been a freaky half-wolf with an ego big enough for Russia.

Ari swiped at me and I feigned to the right, knifing his side as I went. A groan from his ribs let me know there was a fracture, at least. He hissed in pain and before he could catch me I shoved my fist into his side again. This time I was rewarded with a few snaps.

"You'll pay for that, freak!" Ari snarled, baring his fangs and curling his claws into my shoulder. I gritted my teeth and twisted away, feeling my skin rip and start bleeding.

"You were saying something about a secret?" I asked sarcastically, wiping the blood running down my cheek with the back of my hand. Ari growled at me and stalked forward, clenching his fists. Faster than I could dodge, he brought them down on my chest and head, making stars dance in my vision and the air leave my lungs. He shoved me over and I fell to the deck painfully, landing on my wounded shoulder. Ari stepped over me, his boots crushing my wrists into the wooden floor. His gory mouth twisted in a grin as he leaned over, scraping his claws across my face again and splitting my lip. I winced.

"Yep, a secret, old buddy, old pal." His breath was awful. "We're the good guys."

A cold fury ignited in my gut and I guess it showed on my face because he jerked back a bit.

"The good guys," I repeated, my voice dripping icicles. "Of course. Silly me."

He scowled and brought his fist back to punch me so hard I'd black out before something metal and filled with paint smashed into his head, knocking him sideways and splattering him in clear lacquer. I turned my head and saw Nudge, her nose bleeding and multiple scratches all over, Iggy, his face a party of gore, and Max, murder in her eyes and a trickle of blood running down her chin from her mouth.

Ari spluttered where he was, glaring daggers at Max, who was holding another paint tin.

"Skedaddle, dog-boy," she ordered. "Before we throw your wolf-trash butt overboard to sink with your pals."

Ari spared a glance over the side of the ship in time to see the last ripples of something hitting the water still against the boat, rocking it gently. He glanced back at Max, Nudge and Iggy, their fury seeming to bring him back to earth. His eyes lingered on me as I sat up, coughing, watching as he made his way toward the side of the _Black Feather Flight. _He leapt over the barrier and stared absolute hatred back at me. He waved for his ship to pull away.

"It's been fun, Ride," he yelled as the sails filled and they started drifting. "And now that we know where you are, it's about to get even better. See you soon, bird-boy!"

I didn't mind the fact I was bloody and beaten. I didn't even care that Ari had found us and would be reporting to Dylan in a matter of hours, or that my worst enemy and nightmare would sail into my ship soon.

What I did mind, immensely, was losing Max to that monster because she thought we were a bunch of freaks, mistakes.

I stumbled to my feet, listing to the side and feeling my head spin painfully. I coughed and a metallic taste filled my mouth. Iggy gently put an arm around me and pulled me onto him. I didn't like human contact, and I tried yanking away, but a furious glare from Max made me stay.

I sighed. That girl had me wrapped around her little finger and she didn't even notice.

"Fang!" A voice called, and I looked up to see Angel and Gazzy sprinting across the deck towards me. "What happened?"

"Ari happened," Nudge said, and the Gasman's face darkened.

"That guy," he muttered. "I'll punch his gut so hard he'll throw up last weeks lunch. I _hate _him!"

He kicked the floor and glared at the ship heading away from us. I saw a tensing in his shoulders and laid a hand on them before he whipped out his wings and flew off. Most likely to get killed.

I saw the stiff look on Max's face and lightly puffed out my cheeks, ignoring the flash of pain from the cut one.

"Bird-boy," she repeated. I felt my stomach clench.

"It's because wolves eat birds!" Nudge suddenly blurted. I looked at her. She nodded excitedly.

"Yeah, and since Eraser's are like, wolfish, Ari likes to call Fang bird-boy because wolves eat birds and Ari wants to kill Fang- eww, do you think he'd eat Fang? Gross! Fang, do you think Ari would eat you if he killed you?"

I made a face, grateful for her idea, not so thrilled about its context.

"Let's not think about it," I said. Max nodded hesitantly, and I saw she didn't truly buy our lie, but it was all she was getting, so she dropped it.

Angel had been quiet this whole time, and as Iggy helped me into the cabin, she took Max's hand and smiled sweetly. Max gave her a warm one in return, and I wondered if maybe one day I'd get that response if I took Max's hand in mine.

_Fang likes Maa-aax, Fang likes Maa-aax! _A little voice chanted in my head, and I mentally rolled my eyes.

_Angel likes Max too, _I countered.

_Angel's not in love with Max. _

I went so rigid Iggy had to haul me through the door with no help.

_What? _I asked. Angel projected a not-impressed-at-all look into my head. Jeezum, bossy little nine year old.

_S'okay, Fang, _she told me. _There's nothing to be worried about with Max. She really loves us like a family. I bet it'd be something like, wings-and-all. Right?_

I nodded stiffly, letting Iggy push me into a chair and start getting out his medical stuff.

Wings-and-all it may be, but I didn't plan on showing mine for a long time.

_Love does crazy things, Fang. Nudge read that to me in a book. _

I started wondering if Angel was really nine-years-old.

_**~"At that moment, I had no mind to change, or not to change, or throw against the nearest wall."~**_

The plaster on my face itched so badly, but I ignored it.

I was lying in my bed, staring at the ceiling with my arms cradling my head. I was thinking about Max, and Dylan. Ari was just a messenger – a taster. Dylan was on his way. He was probably near-by. It'd take a week at most for him to find us. For him to find me.

I shuddered, feeling my chest give an unpleasant tingle. There was a reason I always wore long-sleeved shirts.

I flicked my eyes from the roof to the small porthole in my room, watching the water slide by. Right now, we had no destination, no plan. It was just, 'Keep ahead of Ari, stay away from Dylan, keep the flock safe.' Lately I'd been thinking though…

I shifted in my bed and unfurled my wings. They spread like blankets of night sky over the mattress, and it felt like a relief to have them out after tucking them in so long. I wanted to go out and fly. Freely and without a care. I looked out the window again.

Something brushed against the glass, and I saw the outline of a huge feather before it flapped away with whatever it belonged to. With the moon illuminating everything, I saw the colour: it was creamy with brown bits, speckled and long.

Like the one I found in Max's dress.

_**~ "You stand out like a fart in church." ~**_

Dylan wiped sweat from his eyes and gently put his sword back in its sheath. Night-time was brilliant for training. It was cool, with light winds and bright stars in the sky. Dylan loved those stars.

Only because he dreamed about Fang Ride never seeing them again.

A noise brought his attention to the side of the massive ship, where a second vessel was docking. He recognised the hulking figure jumping aboard and walked to meet him.

"Ari," he greeted. "How did you fare?"

Ari grinned, his teeth sharp and pointed.

"Very nicely," he replied. "Miss Maximum seems to have been _forcibly enslaved _in the life of a pirate by Fang Ride."

Dylan perked up at the exaggerated way Ari had said 'forcibly enslaved.'

"Really now," he brooded. "Well, just another thing to add to the long list of reasons why I will have him hanged."

"He also seems to have kept his freak-defect to himself," Ari added. Dylan's smile stretched into a crocodile grin.

"Well done, Ari," Dylan said briskly, walking over to grab his shirt. He pulled it on and headed for the cabins.

"We should have the fleet on them by the end of the next week."

"Yes, sir."

Ari saluted and Dylan went inside. The Eraser looked up at the stars and smirked.

**Helloooo there people! **

**Thank you for all the awesomeness you've reviewed with. And I'm sorry if this is progressing too fast for you, but that's Maximum Ride – there's an Eraser attack every fifth page or something. **

**And before you ask about Ari beating up Fang here; everyone remember the paint-incident in The Angel Experiment when Nudge goes to Tipisco to look for her parents? That's that part. See paint inclusion in the form of deck lacquer. **

**See you next time! Keep being awesome!**

**Jasmine Out!**

**To Unnoticed Silence: Yes, indeed I am a Percy Jackson fan. Love me up some PJO! **


	5. Chapter 5

**Chapter 5: MAX**

I was progressing abysmally in braiding hair to the point I just gave up. Angel was seated in front of me, humming a little song and petting Total while I was fruitlessly trying to do her bouncy blond locks into something semi resembling a plait. I let go of the strands and just sighed.

"Forget it, Angel," I said wearily. "Doing hair isn't one of my fortes."

She gave me a smile and gently started picking her locks into a small pony tail, tying it off. I stood up.

Since the Eraser attack two days ago, I could see the others getting more and more restless. Nudge spoke in shorter sentences and Gazzy even exploded things less often than he usually did, which was cause for worry enough. Angel was carrying on as normal, but her tiny shoulders were tense nearly all the time now. Iggy kept trying to loosen everyone up by making increasingly delicious meals and it nearly always worked for a while, until we all went back on alert.

But it was Fang I worried the most about.

He carried on business as usual, but there was a dullness in his expression and a sense of… I wouldn't normally use panicked as a way to describe Fang, but it was in his eyes and there wasn't a fly to deny it. Something had shaken him up, and whatever it was would be more than metaphorically shaken up by me if I ever met them.

As Angel toted herself off to the cabins, I sat down and leant against the mast, letting the sun dance across my face and badly wishing I could extend my wings. Don't get me wrong, I trusted the crew of the _Black Feather Flight _more than I trusted my parents, but I would only tell them when I was ready. And I wasn't ready just yet.

The Gasman padded across the deck towards me and I looked over at him. He had dark rings under his eyes, obviously not sleeping well. I held out my arms.

"C'mere, Gazzy," I said. He rubbed his cheek sleepily and collapsed into my arms. I arranged him so he was curled into my chest and started stroking his hair. No matter how many armies he could probably blow up, he was still only a cute twelve year old kid.

"'Mm love you Max," he mumbled tiredly, and a swell of joy ballooned in my chest. These little kids were just too sweet.

"Love you too, Gazzy," I said quietly, ruffling his hair. He sighed and looked up at me with those big blue eyes.

"If I ever knew my mum, I'd want her to be just like you."

The balloon of joy in my chest grew to be a parachute as he flopped back down. He was breathing deeply in seconds.

_**~ "Pick a tree. I'll go carve our initials on it." ~**_

I sparred with Fang that afternoon, spending most of the mock fight thinking about how incredibly tense he looked. When we sat down for water, I plucked up my courage and asked him about it.

"Do you wanna tell me why you're coiled like a spring?"

He looked at me, his eyes shining from sunbeams that flecked them gold. I started wondering exactly when I'd become so heightened to how the light made him look.

"Just Ari," he said, puffing his shirt a bit to cool himself off.

"And Dylan," I added. He went very still for a moment and stopped pulling at his tunic.

"Yeah, I suppose," he replied quietly. I fiddled with my fingers for a second.

"What… why do you guys hate each other so much?" I asked. His eyes flickered with something dark and extremely painful before he glanced away.

"We don't hate each other," he said. I made a face of confusion. Fang looked at me.

"The feelings between Dylan and I are far more intense than hate. Like, I can hate how Gazzy never cleans up after he destroys something. I can't hate Dylan in the same sense of the word, because it's so much more than that." He leaned on his hands and stared off into the ocean. "We have a relationship, Max, where we would give our own lives to kill the other. If it meant he died, I'd off myself. If it meant I died, he'd do the same. You can see how hate doesn't really apply. There just isn't a word strong enough for how I feel about him."

I sat frozen, staring at him. Sure, I thought the world would be better off without Dylan, but to kill myself just do he died…

"W-What did he _do _to you?" I stuttered. I wasn't sure I really wanted to know.

Fang kept looking ahead.

"I can't tell you," he said, so quietly I had to strain to hear. His hands twitched towards his chest and I thought I saw sparkling tears in his eyes. "I just can't tell you."

I wasn't sure I wanted to know anymore. If Fang – Mr I'm-A-Bloody-Badass-Pirate-And-Made-Of-Rocks – was so snapped by what Dylan had done, I'd be better off not knowing.

Of course after I thought that, I immediately wanted to know with every core of my being. But I could respect Fang's privacy. If he wanted to tell me he could.

The had sun started dipping into the waves to take a swim, spreading orange tentacles along the water and burning our ship in reds and yellows by the time I stood up. Fang got up too, looking better than he had before. I bumped his shoulder as we headed for the cabins hallway door and the dining room.

"Whatever it is, Captain," I said, "if you want to… talk about it, I'm here."

He gave me a smile; a gentle little thing that brought to mind an odd desire to hug him. His hand swung slowly and brushed mine before curling fingers caught it and he held on to them. An inexplicable blush rose to my cheeks and I smiled – kind of wobbly-ish – and started leading both of us towards the mess hall. I really didn't want him to let go.

And you know what?

He didn't.

**The Fax is beginning. I felt like the relationships on the ship needed a teensy bit of building. Plus the Fax. Duh. **

**Also I'm sorry I didn't update sooner. I had exam block and then life and now with the holidays up soon I've finally got time. Next chapter we'll finally see some Dylan/Fang rivalry action! It'll be up sooner than this one was. **

**Jasmine Out!**


	6. Chapter 6

**Chapter 6: MAX**

Looking back on it, the day had been far too perfect for anything bad not to happen. In fact, I think the reason Awfulness decided to raise its ugly head and mess up the universe is because we went nearly an entire day without something going terribly wrong.

Iggy's breakfast had been way too amazing.

Gazzy and Angel having a little read while leaning against each other was far too cute.

Nudge managing to braid my hair into a decent looking plait should have given me a subtle warning.

Total didn't shake his dog-water all over me.

Even when Fang suggested we take advantage of the overly-beautiful day – an omen in itself –, I didn't question the good luck we were having.

Our form of 'taking advantage of beautiful days' meant stripping down to our leggings and tunic shirts and taking turns diving off the boats edge into the clear blue water below and having a swim. The sun was even shining, for the gods sake, why didn't I see it before?!

When it was my turn, I dived and streamlined to the water before it caught me and I was propelled under a small wave. It was blissfully cool and I opened my eyes to appreciate the clarity of the ocean before kicking back to the surface and breaking through into the air.

I was greeted with a gigantic splash that announced the arrivals of Fang and Iggy. Gazzy giggled as he did a handstand on the edge of the ship and fell into the water, crashing down right beside me. Angel arrived with barely a flick of water, while Nudge yelled "Cannonball!" as she tucked herself up and leapt off, landing with a massive splash. Total barely made a dent in the sea at all.

I don't know how long we were in the water – long enough to have several rounds of Marco Polo and Find Me. Also long enough for faces to brown a little and for Angel's cheeks and nose to get sunburnt. Total's fur was so wet it was weighing him down.

Currently Fang was 'it' for Marco Polo, and he was swimming precariously close to Gazzy.

"Marco," he said loudly, paddling around. I made a motion to Gazzy to go under and he did, avoiding answering Fang. Instead, I yelled at the top of my lungs.

"POLO!"

Fang swivelled around to face me and I realised I was a lot closer to him than I originally thought. I also underestimated how fast he could swim. No one else was close by – I was sure Iggy had actually swum under the ship to the other side – and so I was left with a ridiculously good swimmer of a Captain freestyling towards me while I floated like an idiot. Fang was grinning and water was streaming down his face, over his closed eyes and dripping off his lashes. At the last second my brain sparked an idea and I dropped like a stone downwards into the sea just as Fang reached where I was.

I opened my eyes and looked up at him through the water. He was stationary, hovering where I had been seconds before and his shirt was billowing around. I was about to swim away when I caught sight of something on his skin.

It looked like a long scar that seemed to run from the centre side of his waist around to his back. Being a pirate he would have some scars, I suppose, but somehow I immediately knew Dylan was responsible.

Completely forgetting what air was and why I needed it, I started wondering with a sense of fury what right Dylan had to do anything to Fang and why. Nothing warranted physical and mental scarring of a person. Either Fang did something so wrong it was the epitome of evil – I didn't see that happening – or Dylan was mentally screwed up and sadistic – I saw that happening.

Finally, I acknowledged my flaming lungs and shot to the surface, gasping for air that I remembered I needed, to like, breathe. After I sounded less like I was having an asthma attack, I looked around.

Which is when I realised three things:

One, I didn't see anybody; two, there was another ship pulled up beside ours and three…

…our day had officially gone to hell.

_**~ "You die when we die." ~**_

In a normal hostile situation, Fang was a stoic rock, unshakeable to its foundation and cold as Arctic winds.

In an abnormal hostile situation where the seven of us are soaking wet, unarmed, and the opponent is Dylan, Fang more resembled an ice statue: frozen solid and unresponsive.

His fists were clenched, but they were shaking as he stared unblinkingly at the group of uniformed men standing on his deck. They all held rapiers in the regulation belts buckled around their waists, holding up white trousers. Their altering blue and red blazers were buttoned down but none of them were wearing navy hats.

None, except the man at the front. He looked like a man at least – regally dressed with close-cropped blond hair and stunning blue eyes. He was only seventeen though, and handsome. He was smiling like he was finally catching up with some old friends. All in all, not evil.

Except if you looked closer. His pretty sky blue eyes were wrecked with storms of madness and primal hatred, and his smile had a twisted side that wouldn't fool anyone who knew how he really was.

In other words, Fang was beyond and above not fooled by Dylan Gunther-Hagen's attitude.

The last time I saw them together, they were fighting at the arranged wedding between Dylan and I. He was confident then, with his sword and his team. Now though, with protective duties, no weapon, and badly outnumbered, Fang was quivering in rage… and something else.

"A few weeks at sea and he thinks he's untouchable," Dylan suddenly said, stepping forward. "Seriously, Fang, I actually expected better."

Fang pursed his lips.

"You kidnap my wife and then don't arm yourself, you don't tiptoe on eggshells, you don't look behind you whenever you step and go to sleep without a care."

During his rampage Dylan had started forward and Fang had ushered us back until we were a meter behind him and he and Dylan were face to face. Dylan's lips had contorted into a snarl and Fang replied with a blank expression.

"She isn't your wife," he said softly. His chin jerked into the air in defiance and he narrowed his eyes. "And I'm not scared of you."

"She _is my_ wife," Dylan snarled, closing the space between them completely and glaring at Fang. "You never had any claim."

_Uh, what? _I shake my head, utterly confused.

"No, no I didn't," Fang growls. "Because _someone _is a sore loser who should get a cat instead of torturing innocent-"

He broke off, his face conveying everything he wasn't saying. Dylan laughed in his face.

"_Innocent?" _he chuckled. "There's nothing innocent about you, Fang."

"Not anymore," Fang muttered darkly. "You took that away."

"Okay, hang on, time out!"

I was surprised by Iggy as he jumped forward, saying exactly what was on the tip of my tongue. Dylan looked at him over Fang's shoulder and his hand drifted towards a pouch hanging from his waist.

"Another kidnapped royal?" he asked. "Or a sewer rat."

Iggy narrowed his eyes, looking in the general direction of Dylan.

"Sewer rat," he replied casually. "So don't get too close, Prince Charming. You'll murder your nose cells from my smell alone."

Dylan made a noise of disgust as Iggy took off his shoe and waved it around. Fang sighed slightly and waited for the blind pirate to finish.

"So, I don't know about everyone else," Iggy began, hopping around to put his shoe back on. "But I don't like Mr High and Mighty on our ship. I'm sure I was caught up with my taxes so you can skedaddle, Gunther-Hagen."

Dylan gripped the pouch at his side.

"You don't pay taxes," he said. Iggy thought about it for a moment.

"So then you have no reason to be here," he replied brightly. "Get off our boat!"

Finally – I mean, it took long enough – my tongue stopped acting like it was coated in cement and I snapped my head at Dylan.

"Yeah. Rack off, Golden Boy."

In hindsight, it was a pretty bad idea.

Dylan finally noticed that one of the reasons for their argument was standing right there. He glanced back at Fang, with the very obvious expression that he wanted the pirate to drop in agony and die right there.

"What did you do to my wife?" he growled. Fang actually smirked.

"Freed her," he replied. I pointed at him.

"Ditto."

Dylan flicked his wrist at the gathered men behind him who, at first, I thought were mannequins seeing how still they were. They jerked to attention at the same time Dylan grabbed the front of Fang's damp tunic and threw him bodily towards the hoard of sailors. He set his face in a determined expression, but when the crowd parted to reveal who was meant to catch him, Fang stumbled even further.

Ari's brutally ripped arms and furry claws snatched Fang and held him to his chest, practically crushing his ribs. We all surged forward to help him, and a glint of silver whipped in front of Gazzy as he moved.

Dylan had drawn his sword and was pointing it at the Gasman, the tip tearing his shirt and drawing a thin line of blood on his chest. Angel, who was closest to him, froze, and screamed to the rest of us to stop. Gazzy glared at Dylan but he didn't move. Dylan grinned at him before his eyes found mine and he ushered me forward, tapping Gazzy's chin with the tip of his sword for incentive. I went over to him, glowering harshly, and he gripped my arm lightly before pivoting me in the direction of Fang and Ari.

"Any time you're ready, Fang. Show her."

I wasn't at all understanding what he meant, but Fang pursed his lips tightly and his shoulders seemed to tense even more. Dylan raised his eyebrow and scrutinised the pirate Captain. Then he chuckled.

"You're a very pathetic thing, aren't you? Come on, let's see if she feels the same way."

He held my arm tighter and pulled me to him. I kicked his shin, but a warning in the form of Gazzy being held at sword-point stopped me taking him apart bit-by-bit.

Fang didn't move. He just looked at each of us in turn and then glared out to sea. Dylan growled.

"Ari," he ordered. Ari sniggered and one of his hairy paws that was clasping Fang's throat let go. He clenched it into a fist and then punched the pirate, splitting his lip and bringing blood gushing down his cheek. Then Ari whaled my friends gut so hard Fang tried to double over and protect it. Ari held him up.

He whistled then, and two men from the crowd came forward silently. They stationed themselves on either side of Fang and I didn't even get time to warn him before Ari stabbed his claws into Fang's shoulders, letting him go. But the soldiers of Dylan's swooped in before Fang could run and grabbed a wrist each. It looked like they were trying to pull him apart.

"Stop!" Nudge screamed, trying to run forward. A small cut to the underside of Gazzy's neck made her skid to a halt. She covered her face with her hands and cried quietly. Dylan grinned around.

"Last chance," he told Fang. He got no response. Ari moved.

His picked up the back of Fang's shirt and shredded it with ease, letting it drop to the ground and leaving Fangs torso exposed. I saw Ari's hands move again, aimed for Fangs back. He didn't retract his claws and I thought he was going to stab him clean through until a puff of pain came from Fang and Ari started pulling on something.

At first he just tugged, but whatever it was put up a fight and Ari ended up just wrenching the thing outwards. Fang yelled and his head dropped onto his chest. Ari grinned triumphantly as he showed us what he had pried away from the pirate hanging in front of him.

A pair of midnight-black wings, some of the feathers crooked and broken, extended fifteen feet across from Fangs' back into the air.

**How's that, huh? Wing time! YAY! **

**I'm sorry if this was crappy. I'm sick and ew in the head. **

**See ya'll nexxxxxt time!**

**Jasmine Out!**


	7. Chapter 7

**Chapter 7: FANG**

The pain of Ari forcefully opening my wings made me black out for a minute or two. It hurt so much more than it had last time. But I guess they had only been teen foot then.

Even when I regained consciousness, I didn't want to look up. Max was right there, and I could feel her staring at the wings protruding from my back. I could picture her eyes welling with disgust and right then, I wanted to die.

Something rough and firm gripped my chin and pushed my face up into the light again. I blinked once, trying to see what it was.

Dylan grinned down at me, his nails digging into my throat as he levelled his and my gaze so I got the full pleasure of looking right into the eyes of the person I would die to kill.

"That wasn't so hard, was it?" he asked. I gritted my teeth and he rolled his eyes.

"Come on, Fang. Whatever you thought you could have was over before it began!" He leaned in, right beside my ear, and whispered, "Lord Batchelder was a fool to think you were worthy."

"More worthy… than you," I wheezed. More blood spilled from my mouth and I could literally feel the sick pleasure Dylan got from seeing me bleed all over him. The hand that was holding my chin let go and then I felt it again, wiping on the knee of my pants. I flickered my eyes to see what was happening, and saw diluted red streaks down my leggings. Dylan dusted his hands off and then turned around to face my crew.

"So, what do you all think? He's pretty disgusting, huh? Fang Ride, pirate and mutant freak." He spat on the deck. "Belongs in a circus, don't you agree? Or a lab. Or…" His eyes glittered wickedly. "Preferably, _dead."_

The others all stared at me. I understood why: they felt my pain. How many times had they been abused because of what they were? They knew what it was like. But Max… oh Max. If it was anyone else, I would have stared them down and dared them to comment. But because it's _her. _I can't do it. I just can't bear to see the revulsion on her face.

"Dead, huh?" A voice said. My whole body tensed up. It was her voice. Max's. My stomach dropped like a hot coal.

"Indeed, my love," Dylan crooned, moving away from me towards her. I peeked through my fringe to see him trying to cuddle her shoulders. I didn't look at her face.

"Well then," she continued. I waited for the, _let me kill him, _but it never came. Instead, it was –

"You better start with me, _darling."_

Despite what I promised myself, I glanced up sharply. I was glad I did. Even if I was about to be stabbed by someone I… cared for…, the look of surprise as Dylan pulled away from Max was priceless.

"Wha?" he spluttered. I watched Max straighten her shoulders and face him.

"If _that_." She pointed to my wings, "is so disgusting, then you'd better kill me quick, Dylan."

She made a fake fainting motion.

"Think of the children!"

Then, Max grabbed her tunic and ripped it over her head. Something feathery and long unfurled from her back until two things stood erect above her.

Wings. Soft brown, tan, dappled black and white. Wings. They were wings. They were her wings. Max's wings. Their feathers deflected sunlight and shimmered with light and all I could think about was the feather I had found in Max's dress when she had first arrived. It was the same as the colours I was seeing now.

Max had wings. And, apparently, she knew how to use them.

One ginormous flap and Dylan was bowled over like a pin, aftergusts throwing him over and over along the deck until he hit the side and slid down onto the ground. Behind me, Ari let go of my own wings in shock, and I found new strength from somewhere deep in whatever reserves I had. I flicked out my legs and slammed them into the men holding me. The sound of bones snapping echoed across the ship but I didn't care. There was enough adrenaline pumping through me to stun a horse, and the small army of mannequin-men didn't stand a chance.

I saw the others leap into battle beside me, taking down soldier after soldier. One enemy ran out of my vision and I ignored him in favour of punching another. Too soon, they were all down and bleeding. Except one.

Ari was standing near the edge of the deck, and when I saw who he was fighting my skin broke out in cold chills.

Max's foot smashed into the half-morphed Eraser's jaw and a little white tooth went flying as Ari doubled back. I started to run towards her, my wings trailing behind, until she landed a punch so hard on his ribs Ari toppled over the side of the ship and hit the water below with a massive splash.

It was really quiet on the ship after that. I turned to face the spot Dylan had fallen, prepared to _finally _kill the person who made majority of my life hell-

Only to see him gone, leaving behind a single, thin trail of blood and a deep scratch in the wood. I walked closer, feeling bitterly disappointed, and scuffed the gauge with my foot. That's when I noticed they were letters.

There were only six and they were carved so haphazardly that they were hard to decipher. But they were clear to me.

_Get you. _

I knew he was going to try again and again. I also knew that, with burning certainty, he wouldn't be beaten next time.

Then, all that kind of melted away. Cream and brown feathers touched my shoulder and I turned to see Max, smiling shyly at me and running her fingers through my own dark wings.

"Some of the feathers a broken," she said quietly. I looked over to see she was right, they were. I shrugged.

"I heal fast," I replied. She smirked.

"I know."

A couple of things happened at once then. Max leaned in and I thought she was going to hug me or something until I felt a small pressure on my cheek and realised she'd kissed me. Straight after, something small, blond and excited barrelled into her and knocked her to the ground.

"You got wings!" Gazzy yelled, and only then did I notice everyone else had their own out: Nudge with her chocolate feathers soaking the sun, Iggy with his creamy tan plumes ruffling in the wind, Angel with her snow white wings and Gazzy with his white-and-brown-tipped quills sticking up all over the place as he tackle-hugged Max. Total was running around, yipping and yelling excitedly, his own tiny little black triangles of fluff flapping around.

"You do to!" Max shouted right back, grinning. The Gasman started jumping, which turned out to be a bad idea as he was still perched on Max's stomach. She coughed as she got up, then looked around at all of us. I'll never admit this out loud, and I tried to conceal it from Angel in case she was thought-probing, but when Max's chocolate eyes rested on me my gut did a massive belly-flop and I unexpectedly smiled.

"I think we all have some explaining to do," Max said, still grinning.

"That we do," I agreed.

**I don't know about ya'll, but that was terrible. I have such bad writers block for this right now ugh. Sorry guys. I'll try to update this again soon. I'm making a pact that I update every story once a week, so see you next time. **

**Jasmine Out!**


	8. Chapter 8

**Chapter 8: MAX**

Nudge was cuddled into my side as I finished my story.

"I had to hide them my whole life," I shrugged. "It wasn't fun but I couldn't do much else."

"Why didn't you fly away?" The Gasman asked, his eyes wide. He was really interested in my life as a some-what princess. I smiled at him, ruffling his hair.

"I wouldn't have anywhere to go," I replied. "I could survive by myself in the wild I suppose, but I'm not sure I was game enough to try. Besides, if I'd left I wouldn't have met any of you."

Iggy nodded like this was a major issue.

"Yes," he said solemnly, "and we know that would have been a tragedy. No one should suffer by not knowing the Igg-meister."

"Uh huh," Total grumbled, curling on Angel's lap. "Tragedy. Like, Shakespeare level tragedy."

Iggy nodded again, probably not knowing that dogs who could talk were armed with sarcasm. Angel scratched the little Scottie's ears.

"That must have been hard," she said quietly. "At least we had people who accepted us."

My throat threatened to close up and I swallowed, reaching out to take Angel's little hand.

"Not as bad as you guys," I replied, smiling sadly. Angel and the Gasman had been dumped on the streets as kids. Their mum hadn't wanted them beforehand, but when they came out with little wings growing from their backs she tipped. She turned to drink and left the two kids to fend for themselves. One day, when Angel was three and Gazzy was five, she threw them out. They lived on the streets and out of bins until Iggy found them a few months later.

"But we had each other," Nudge whispered. I noticed them all nod. Except Fang. He was looking down at the deck, apparently very interested in the spots of blood at his feet. We'd cleaned up his face as best we could and already the bruising was starting to turn a sickly yellow instead of blue and purple. The cut on his lip had scabbed over and was starting to scar before my eyes. He'd gotten another shirt before anything else though.

"Fang?" I asked, because I'm a nosy person like that. He looked up, meeting everyone else's eyes before mine. He looked sadder than he'd ever admit.

"Yeah," he agreed, his tone soft, "we had each other."

I glanced down at Nudge as she shifted on my shoulder. I saw tears forming in her eyes. Fang was like a big brother to her and they had one of the closest non-sibling relationship on the ship. Whatever kind of double-meaning there obviously was in what Fang said, she got it. I kind of felt like I was missing something big.

_He didn't, _a voice said in my head. I jerked in surprise before looking over at Angel. She was looking at Fang too. But it was definitely her I'd heard.

I knew Angel could read and talk inside minds. She'd demonstrated when we sat down to have our Deep-And-Meaningful about an hour and a half ago. Everyone seemed to have some sort of crazy power: Nudge was Metal Girl, with the ability to draw metal things toward her. Iggy could feel colours, Fang practically blended into the background if he stood still for long enough and Gazzy… well, it'll come in hang as an explosive distraction.

Angel had her own arsenal with telepathy, mind-influencing and underwater breathing. She'd said she was working on this new power that let her change how she looked, too.

_He didn't have anyone, _Angel continued. I looked at Fang again, who seemed to be having a mental conversation with Angel at the same time as me.

_He was alone. _I bit my lip.

_Alone with Dylan. _

I turned into a veritable rock at this point, tensing beyond the physical capacity of my muscles. Fang. Alone. With Dylan. And I had a sinking feeling that whatever I thought might have happened in that time, what actually did was ten times worse.

_It was like that long before we came. _

I tried sending a message back, writing it out in my brain and picturing it in flashing red lights.

_What happened? _

I sensed her telepathically shaking her head.

_I could show you, _she said. _It's not nice, Max. I had nightmares afterwards. _Her little shoulders sagged in front of me. _I still do. _

My eyes started prickling. Everything these people, my only friends, had been through, shouldn't have happened to them. They were barely beginning life and they already knew more about the brutality of the world than adults.

_I want to talk to Fang, _I replied.

_He said that's okay. _

Fang lifted his head then and looked right at me. Something, like a fist, squeezed my lungs until breathing became a fantastical dream that I wished I could have. Then he got up and started walking towards the mast. His wings were hanging behind him, some of the feathers still broken and sticking up at strange angles. Ari had broken the bones that supported his primary feathers, the top layer, so he wouldn't be flying for at least two weeks. I think we were all aware that in that time Dylan would attack again. He couldn't not. We were a bunch of kids and his arch enemy and we'd beaten him and around a hundred men. It was embarrassing for a prince, to say the least.

Fang started to climb up to the birds nest using the rigging, moving fluidly. I considered just sitting down and admiring his skills, but my need to know overweighed my need to stare. I started climbing up after him, glancing down once to see the others and Total spread out and start fixing things up around the ship.

Dragging myself over into the birds nest I found Fang sitting with his legs out and feet braced against the stern of the mast. His wings were draped over the side and I sat down opposite him next to his feet and unfurling my wings against the pole. I stretched my legs out beside him and looked around expectantly. Fang was staring out over the ocean, which was starting to bleed orange as the sun set.

I nudged him with my foot comfortingly, half reassuring, half impatience. He sighed quietly and turned his head to face me.

"I was supposed to marry you, Max."

**I should just copy-paste HORRIBLE HUMAN BEING onto every chapter of this story. I am SO SORRY it's been like, three weeks. I got writers block and just AGH. **

**Exam block is coming up soon too, so I might not be able to update next weekend, but I will update before the weekend after. This I promise. **

**And sorry about the cliffie. But I'm kind of proud of this story because I actually planned ahead and I know what I'm doing. YAY! **

**Jasmine Out!**


	9. Chapter 9

**Chapter 9: MAX**

"Hold the line," I replied. "What?"

He kept staring at the ocean.

"I was supposed to marry you," he repeated. "Instead of Dylan."

"But-"

"Are you going to let me explain or are you going to keep interrupting?"

There was a small smile on his face and I swallowed my obvious answer – _keep interrupting – _in favour of waving to him graciously to continue.

"Right," Fang said, shifting his legs a little. "Well, I was your betrothed. From the moment I was born, in fact. You know you're a few months older than me."

I nodded, mouth tightly shut.

"And Dylan and I were born within a week of each other; I'm older than him by five days. So I was enamoured to you first." He kept staring at the ocean.

"You've probably heard of my family: the Walkers. How our mansion burned down when I was sixteen and it was believed no one survived."

There was a moment of silence as I processed this. I think my eyes were about to fall out of their heads. Nick Walker. Son of Gareth and Monique Walker. Veritable prince of my town. Even bigger than the Gunther-Hagen's.

Nick Walker was Fang Ride.

"Of course," Fang continued, "I hated my parents. They had my whole future planned for me the moment I arrived. It was awful. They tried having my wings removed so many times I lost count. I went by Fang to everyone but them, and I adopted my grandma's name – Ride – instead of Walker. I refused them and in turn they refused me. But I was still betrothed to Maximum Martinez, and I…" He looked at his feet. "… I liked her quite a lot."

I think he was blushing.

"Most days I saw you in the front garden of your manor, hiding up trees. You were pretty, even as a six year old. And as you grew I knew I wouldn't mind having you as a wife."

He was definitely blushing now.

"But then Dylan came. The Gunther-Hagen's moved into the upper side of town from an island, where they were royalty. Dylan began courting you, even after he was told you were spoken for. Your parents obviously approved of him more than they did of me. And Dylan and I… well, we hated each other. The amount of sword fights, brawls, insulting arguments and exchanged death threats was enough to make him loathe my whole family."

I remembered Dylan from then, always charming, always a pain in my neck. I couldn't believe I was never told I was going to marry Fang, though. That just rubbed me the wrong way. What were they going to do? Pop into my room one morning and say, "Oh, by the way, daughter, your wedding is today. It's to a guy you don't know, but it was planned since he was born. Get dressed and do your hair!"

It wouldn't have gone over well.

Fang kept talking, his voice quieter now.

"When the mansion burned down, I was outside in the garden. I saw the flames and the smoke from a tree I was in and I ran to try and find my parents. I wasn't above letting Dylan stay in a house on fire, but I didn't want my only family dying on me, no matter how much we didn't see eye-to-eye.

"But when I hit the ground, something hit me."

I watched in horror as he shifted his shirt and pulled it up a little way, his face carefully blank. On his chest, just below his sternum down to his right hip bone, was a long, straight, white scar. I twitched my fingers and, with a look of question to Fang, moved my hand to trace the line.

"What…?" I asked him softly. He breathed in, his eyes closed, and I felt the urge to comfort him. I shuffled from the mast to next to Fang, letting our feathers overlap and squeezing his hand in reassurance.

"Dylan had been waiting," Fang said, his voice tight, "for me to come out of the tree. He and his father had set my family and home on fire, to take the Walkers out of the picture, so he could court and wed you without any interference. At least that's what his father said. Dylan told me that taking you wasn't enough for him, and that he'd see me dead at his feet."

He wrapped his arms around his bent knees, staring ahead.

"And that I'd do it willingly. That I would bow to that-that _monster, _and let him kill me."

No matter how much I hated Dylan, and how much I thought I couldn't loathe him any more than I did, the impossible slapped me in the face like a fish tail. I understood why Fang would lay down his life to end Dylan now. And I hated him so much more than the word hate extended.

"…what happened?" I asked quietly.

"A group of Gunther-Hagen guards came. I didn't see a way out, so I tried to fly away. But Dylan had a gun with him – it was sort of small, but he fired and it hit my left wing. I was pretty crap at using them anyway; I'd had no practice.

"Someone caught me when I fell, then dumped me on the ground. Dylan put his sword at my throat while his guards held me down. I couldn't do anything. I was helpless. Then something whacked me over the head, and I remember wondering if I was going to see anything ever again before I passed out."

Something inside me twisted wrong when I heard that. I had a terrible gut feeling I knew what happened next.

"But you did wake up," I said, and he looked at me, his face expressing a feeling of brokenness. "And that slimy little crap-stick jackass…"

I couldn't even say it. It was so horrible. So inhumane. So evil.

Fang drew his shirt sleeves up and that's when I saw them. The scars. Just like the one I'd seen on his stomach when we went swimming.

There were so many. Some were differently shaped, some were obviously burns, but most were what was left over when a dagger was pressed against skin.

"He had a special one made," Fang said softly, his voice bitter as vinegar. "A special knife, just for me."

_**~ "**__**Wake up! Snap out of it! You stupid jerk! I'm going to kill you if you die on me!**__**" ~**_

I didn't really have the heart to ask how Fang got out. It wasn't obvious, and I admit I was curious, but there was no way I would make him relive all that.

Back down on the deck, I joined the others in keeping the ship moving. Fang went down too, letting Angel and Nudge fix up his wings and reset a few of the bones, then wrapping them. I watched all this quietly as I checked the rigging again.

Fang had said he liked me.

I knew there were more troublesome things to worry about, but that was my big take-away from that conversation.

Fang said he liked me. He wouldn't mind me as a wife.

I secretly – like, really secretly, because while Angel was busy she could still read minds – didn't think I'd be too sad if I was enamoured to Fang. It would have been nice if Dylan had just shoved off.

**Right so there you go. Yay. It's T for a reason, people, I repeat. Probably a little more graphic later. How do you like?**

**Jasmine Out!**


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